PATROL® Central -Web Edition
The PATROL Web Console
Contents
Overview..........................................................................................................................1Traditional Consoles and Customer Requirements ....................................................1The Solution ................................................................................................................2
PATROL Central Architectural Overview .....................................................................3PATROL Central .........................................................................................................3PATROL Console Server ............................................................................................3The Common Object System (COS)...........................................................................4Management Profiles ..................................................................................................5The PATROL Security Model......................................................................................5PATROL Central - Web Edition Architecture ..............................................................6
PATROL Central - Web Edition Console Modules.......................................................7PATROL Central Operator – Web Edition Console Module........................................7PATROL Central Administration – Web Edition Console Module .............................12PATROL Central Alerts – Web Edition Console Module...........................................12
Conclusion....................................................................................................................13Helping you maintain advantage...............................................................................14
Page 1
Overview
This section provides an overview of the development history of PATROL Central – Web
Edition, including customer requirements and basic features of the solution.
Traditional Consoles and Customer Requirements
Traditionally, BMC has offered PATROL users a choice of two consoles:
• PATROL Classic Console for Unix, a Motif-based console
• PATROL Classic Console for Microsoft Windows, an MFC-based (Microsoft Founda-
tion Classes) console
Each console provides a different look and feel, which is attributed to the platform imple-
mentation, but they share common underlying concepts.
Over the past several years, our customer base has communicated resounding console plat-
form requirements for
• A native Microsoft Windows console for pure Microsoft Windows environments
• A native Web console for heterogeneous environment
• A foundation for other client modules to leverage standard console infrastructures
To satisfy the native Microsoft Windows requirement, BMC Software now offers PATROL
Central – Microsoft Windows Edition, a native Windows console infrastructure.
The requirement for a platform-independent console could be met in a variety of ways.
However, with the emergence and popularity of Web interfaces, our customers requested a
Web-based solution. Previously, BMC Software pioneered Web solutions by providing
PATROLWATCHTM and the PATROL Web Viewer, but neither of these was a fully func-
tional console.
Our customer base is evolving. More of our customers provide services to customers of
their own and internally to their own corporations. This evolution spawned a whole new
set of requirements; customers now want to
• Manage remotely by operating PATROL from a location outside the company
• Show the user a subset of management information that applies only to that user
• Segregate user environments from one another
• Use components with a common look-and-feel to reduce the need for customer training
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The Solution
The requirement for a Web-based, platform-independent console motivated BMC Soft-
ware to create the PATROL Central - Web Edition console — a true PATROL console with
features that include
• The ability to create consoles and console components
• PATROL Operator console functionality
• Basic event management
• Customizable Web pages that incorporate real-time data
• PATROL security administration
• User profile administration
• A common look-and-feel across components to enhance ease of use and shorten the
end-user learning curve
BMC Software provides console modules — software components that add features and
functionality to the PATROL Central - Web Edition. These console modules can be
shipped and installed as part of the PATROL Central - Web Edition installation or can be
purchased separately and installed later.
The PATROL Central Operator - Web Edition console module provides most of the tradi-
tional PATROL Operator Console features. It contains a Web interface and basic tools for
building and integrating console modules into a cohesive interface that maintains a com-
mon look-and-feel. Through this interface, you can
• Chart Knowledge ModuleTM parameters
• Issue Knowledge Module menu commands
• Issue managed system commands
• Perform managed system queries
The PATROL Central Operator - Web Edition console module also has the ability to create
a custom view. With this feature, you can design your own Web pages that contain real-
time parameter charts and HTML content.
The PATROL Central Alerts - Web Edition console module provides
• Basic event management capability based on the event filtering techniques of PATROL
Operations Manager (PATROL OM)
• Full enterprise management based on the technology of PATROL Enterprise Manager
(PATROL EM)
• Integration with the PATROL Central Operator - Web Edition console module
The functionality for the initial offering of PATROL Central - Web Edition includes
PATROL Central Alerts console modules which are installed separately.
Page 3
PATROL Central Architectural Overview
Both PATROL Central Operator– Microsoft Windows Edition and PATROL Central Oper-
ator - Web Edition are standard components of the new PATROL architecture. Both con-
soles implement similar functionality and leverage PATROL common services, which pro-
vide for shared communications and centralized administration. The following diagram
depicts the major PATROL components and their interaction.
PATROL Central
PATROL Central – Microsoft Windows Edition and PATROL Central -Web Edition are the
BMC Software native Windows and Web consoles. The new console infrastructure pro-
vides centralized console management and user profile administration. New console mod-
ules hosted by PATROL Central communicate directly with the PATROL Console Server
or with other distributed PATROL servers. For example, the PATROL Central Alerts –
Web Edition console module communicates with the PATROL Enterprise Management
Server.
PATROL Console Server
PATROL Central – Microsoft Windows Edition and PATROL Central - Web Edition both
communicate with the managed systems (agents) through the PATROL Console Server.
Acting as a middle tier component, the PATROL Console Server
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• Passes all user requests to the appropriate managed systems
• Delivers all events and data from the managed systems to the consoles
• Presents a unified view of the PATROL environment to all consoles; this is achieved
through the concept of a management profile
• Maintains user customizations stored in the management profile
• Functions as a central security and authentication server for all consoles
The Common Object System (COS)
BMC Software’s proprietary communication technology, COS, is an object-oriented com-
munication protocol. It provides the basic communication model for the new PATROL
architecture. All objects in the PATROL hierarchy are presented as COS objects in a tree-
like structure, which is commonly referred to as a namespace. Typically, levels in a
PATROL namespace hierarchy include the
• Managed system name (usually a computer on which an agent is installed)
• Knowledge Module name
• Application class name
• Application instance name
• Parameter name
Each object is identified according to its place in the hierarchy. Clients can set the value of
an object or subscribe to events being published by the object.
The following diagram depicts a sample of a partial namespace.
In this example, the name of the managed system is host1.bmc.com, and the system has
two Knowledge Modules. The Unix OS KM has the Disk application class, which has
two application instances: CD0 and CD1. The CD1 disk instance has two parameters:
Capacity and Free. The full object name for the Capacity parameter is /host1.bmc.com/
UnixOSKM/disk/CD1/Capacity. Clients will use the full name to find the value of this
parameter. In this manner, every object in the PATROL namespace has a unique name.
COS provides
• A consistent communication protocol across the entire PATROL product line
• An object model that does not need to change when new components are added
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• Built-in SSL data encryption
• Built-in object-level authentication and access control
Management Profiles
Management profiles are maintained and stored by the PATROL Console Server. A man-
agement profile contains information about your current view of the PATROL environ-
ment and is similar to the traditional PATROL Console session file. Information stored in a
management profile includes
• The managed systems and Knowledge Modules that you are currently managing
• Console layout information for PATROL Central - Windows Edition
• Your Custom Views information
• Event Filters, Managed System Queries, State Change Actions
The PATROL Security Model
The PATROL Console Server acts as the security broker in the new PATROL architecture.
Both PATROL Central consoles use the PATROL Console Server for all security-related
services. PATROL security leverages existing operating system users and groups for
authentication and authorization.
Authentication
All PATROL applications use the PATROL Console Server to authenticate users.
Impersonation
An administrator can define aliases for a user to login across multiple security domains.
For example, you may be logged on to a PATROL Console Server as user Jones even if
user Jones is not known to the managed system. The managed system only has a user
account named PATROL. In this case, user Jones would impersonate PATROL when
accessing the agent. The impersonation table contains the alias accounts and their pass-
words so that Jones is automatically logged into the managed system as PATROL. The
impersonation table is configured using PATROL Central - Administration console mod-
ule.
Privileges
PATROL defines certain privileges that can be assigned to specific users or groups. For
example, you may allow all users to view data but allow only a specific group of users to
set alarm ranges.
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Rights
An administrator can specify the users that have access to specific PATROL objects. For
example, in an Application Service Provider (ASP) environment, you may want one cus-
tomer’s managed systems to be inaccessible to another customer. Or you may want to
grant a certain group of users the right to issue menu commands for a specific Knowledge
Module but prevent all others from issuing that command.
PATROL Central - Web Edition Architecture
PATROL Central - Web Edition is composed of a core console and a set of console mod-
ules that add end-user functionality and business logic to the core. The core console pro-
vides the basic services that are used by all components. These include common page
templates, online Help interface and a database repository.
The PATROL Central - Web Edition architecture is shown in the diagram below.
The presentation layer includes the PATROL Central - Web Edition core infrastructure and
is composed of libraries, styles, templates and applets that maintain a common look-and-
feel throughout the application. The console module components are implemented on top
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of the core infrastructure. Console modules share a common look and feel, user interaction
model, and are interoperable with other PATROL components. Console modules are usu-
ally displayed as top-level. They can also operate with other console modules to display
functionality in other areas of the interface.
The business logic layer provides servlets, JAVA beans, and tag libraries that console mod-
ule developers can leverage when creating their own product. This layer accesses the con-
sole server interface, which provides all the features and benefits of COS. This interface
maintains connection-related information with the console server and presents the console
server object model to the PATROL Central - Web Edition components. It serves as an
interface to the data to manage PATROL objects (managed systems, Knowledge Modules,
parameters) rather than interfacing directly with COS.
User profile information and Web site metadata are stored in a small database repository
which is shipped with the product.
PATROL Central - Web Edition Console Modules
A Console Module is designed, developed, tested and delivered to the customer as a sepa-
rate product that adds value and functionality to the PATROL Central - Web Edition. A
Console Module is deployed within the PATROL Central - Web Edition and integrates
with the core infrastructure.
Console Modules are registered with the core console at Console Module installation time.
They use the PATROL Central - Web Edition look and feel and extend the core navigation
with their own specific navigation, which starts from the Console Module console home
page. Console Modules may also leverage authentication (log on, log off), access control
(privileges, rights), look-and-feel (stylesheets, reusable UI components), user preferences
(stored for each user in the common repository), navigation (tabs, subtabs), communica-
tion mechanisms with the clients (remote invocation servlet, status icons), and the Help
system.
PATROL Central Operator – Web Edition Console Module
The Operator Console Module provides traditional PATROL Operator console functional-
ity. The following sections illustrate some of the highlights of the PATROL Central Opera-
tor - Web Edition console module.
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Managed Systems Interface
The figure below shows an interface for viewing and manipulating the managed systems.
This interface includes functionality that allows you to
• Use the tabs near the top of the page to select the console module
• Use the left pane tree view to select a managed system, instance or parameter
• Drill down to the Knowledge Module level by clicking on a system name link in the
table
• Click in the footer to view connection information, username and system messages
• Use the Page Help button to view context-sensitive Help
• Navigate to any object via the interactive tree with functional menu commands
• Scan object status from the tree view or in the results area
• Click on links in the results pane to navigate to other areas in the application
Main Tabs
Sub Tabs
Tree View
PATROL Console Modules Username Main Help
Page Navigation
Refresh
Page Help
Results Pane
Console Server/Profile Information RT Server/Username Information
System Messages
Page 9
The figure below shows an example of the page that is displayed when you drill down into
a managed system.
The displayed page for the parameters includes functionality that allows you to
• View the Infobox for the selected object
• Execute KM menu commands for the selected object
• Change alarm ranges, collection frequencies, and other settings
• Launch the system commands page to interact directly with the managed system using
the System Output option
• Click on the parameter name to view the selected parameter
The figure below shows a sample parameter chart.
The tree view provides• Viewing object status• Viewing Infoboxes• Executing KM Menu
Commands• Creating new folders
and charts• Customizing parameter
properties, such as setting Alarm Ranges
Tree View
Link to Parameter Sort by column headings
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Managed System Query
As an alternative to opening successive levels of objects in the managed systems interface,
you can go directly to the objects of interest by using the managed system query interface.
With the query interface, you can create, save, and execute application-specific queries.
For example, you can specify that a query locate only managed systems that have Oracle
parameters in the alarm state. Or you could locate the CPU parameter across several sys-
tems when its utilization is between 90% and 100%.
You can operate on the query results in much the same way as you can from the managed
systems pages. In addition, you can copy or move the items listed in the results into a cus-
tom folder or add/create a multiple-line chart.
The following figure shows the managed system query interface.
The managed system query interface allows you to
• Select the object types for which the query will be built. You can select any or all com-
puters, KM packages, applications, instances, and parameters.
• Save the query for later use.
• Edit or delete existing user-defined queries.
• Customize the query results table.
• Move or copy items from a query result to a folder or chart.
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The figure below shows the results of a managed systems query.
Using this page, you can
• Edit, load, or create a new query.
• Customize the table by showing or hiding the columns.
• Select multiple objects using the checkboxes.
• Launch a managed system page in the context of the selected object by clicking
• on the type link
• Click on a column title to sort the list.
In addition to the columns in the figure, you can also display the
• Knowledge Module name
• Application name
• Instance name
• Parameter name
• Value
• Units
• Time of last update
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Custom Views Functionality
The Custom Views functionality is included with the Operator Console Module. Using
Custom Views, you can create Web pages that include real-time charts and custom URLs.
The following figure shows a sample custom view.
PATROL Central Administration – Web Edition Console Module
A PATROL administrator can configure user and group security settings through the
Administration Console Module. This CM provides privileges, rights and impersonation
functionality through subtabs in its interface. They provide the following functionality:
• Privileges — This feature manages the privileges for groups and users. It also allows
administrators to select the groups to which a user belongs.
• Rights — This feature controls user and group access to any object in the PATROL
namespace. For example, you may allow all users to view parameter data and allow only
operators and administrators to issue menu commands.
• Impersonation — This feature allows an administrator to associate aliases with user
accounts, allowing users to connect to agents in different security domains.
PATROL Central Alerts – Web Edition Console Module
The PATROL Central Alerts - Web Edition console module provides basic event manage-
ment capability. This is based on the event filtering techniques of PATROL Operations
Manager (PATROL OM). The PATROL Central Alerts - Web Edition console module also
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provides full enterprise management based on the technology of PATROL Enterprise Man-
ager (PATROL EM). In addition, this console modules provides integration with the
PATROL Central Operator - Web Edition console module.
The following figure shows a sample of the Business Views available in the The PATROL
Central Alerts - Web Edition console module.
Conclusion
PATROL Central - Web Edition provides an infrastructure for developing console compo-
nents. The PATROL Central Operator - Web Edition console module provides the major
PATROL operations and event management functionality in the initial release. PATROL
Central - Web Edition is based on a flexible architecture that supports easy expansion and
will support many console modules in the future.
By successfully leveraging the powerful PATROL 7.x architecture, the initial offering of
PATROL Central - Web Edition core and console modules represents a major step forward
in PATROL user interfaces. This platform-independent Web console provides the flexibil-
ity that our customers require for remote access to BMC Software solutions via a Web
browser.
Business Viewsprovide the abilityto drill-down fromthe highest levelview to the details of alerts.
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Helping you maintain advantage
BMC Software Professional Services helps your company maintain its competitive advan-
tage through a comprehensive suite of services that includes service level management
consulting, installation, implementation, configuration, and customization. Our profes-
sional services and education offerings are designed to ensure the ongoing availability of
critical business applications, maximize product potential, reduce project risk, deliver IT
value to your business, and improve your operations. For more information about BMC
Software Professional Services, visit http://www.bmc.com/profserv.
About BMC Software
BMC Software, Inc. [NYSE: BMC], is a leading provider of enterprise management solu-
tions. The company focuses on Assuring Business Availability® for its customers by help-
ing them proactively improve service, reduce costs and increase value to their business.
BMC Software solutions span enterprise systems, applications and databases. Founded in
1980, BMC Software has offices worldwide and is a member of the S&P 500, with fiscal
year 2002 revenues of approximately $1.3 billion. Visit http://www.bmc.com to learn more.
Page 15
For more information visit BMC Software on the Web at www.bmc.com
BMC Software, the BMC Software logos and all other BMC Software product or service names are registered trademarks or trademarks of BMC Soft-ware, Inc. All other trademarks belong to their respective companies.
Copyright 2002 BMC Software, Inc. All rights reserved.
November 1, 2002
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